Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a processing device that bonds sheets carried out from an image forming device such as a copier or a printer to form a sheet bundle and folds the sheet bundle at a predetermined folding position as needed and, more particularly, to a processing device capable of creating a booklet by means of an adhesive or a booklet by means of staplers according to a user's request.
Description of the Related Art
A sheet processing device that aligns sheets carried out from an image forming device and staples the sheets or folds the sheets in a booklet form is widely known. Such a sheet processing device is provided with a plurality of sheet storage means for sheet post-processing. Further, there is disclosed a device capable of performing stapling or bonding for binding sheets according to a user's request, followed by folding of the resultant bound sheet bundle in two.
For example, Japanese Patent No. 5,168,474 discloses a bookbinding device provided with a unit housing section that can alternatively houses one of a staple-binding unit that staples a sheet bundle and a paste binding unit that applies pasting onto sheets and pressure-bonds them to form a sheet bundle. To this end, one of the staple-binding unit and the paste binding unit is set so as to be detachably attached to the unit housing section. Further, this device includes a folding section that folds the sheet bundle bound by one of the above units in two.
Further, Japanese Patent No. 5,382,597 discloses a device provided with both a paste binding unit that applies pasting onto sheets and pressure-bonds them to form a sheet bundle and a staple-binding unit that performs staple-binding processing. The device alternatively executes the paste binding and the staple-binding followed by folding processing. With this configuration, a booklet can be created by paste binding or staple-binding.